Department of Justice

Two Men Charged With Drug Offenses Following Investigation Of Drug Trafficking At D.C. Barber Shop

Firearms, Drugs, and Cash Seized by Law Enforcement in the District and Maryland

Washington D.C. / Greenbelt, Maryland – Two area men have been arrested in an investigation that led to the seizure of firearms, ammunition and narcotics at various locations in the District of Columbia and Maryland, including a barbershop and surrounding property in Southeast Washington.

The charges were announced today by Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning, United States Attorney Jessie K. Liu; Thomas L. Chittum III, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Special Agent in Charge Daniel L. Board, Jr., of the Bureau of ATF - Baltimore Field Division; Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD); and Henry P. Stawinski III, Chief of the Prince George’s County, Maryland Police Department.

On Feb. 1, 2018, law enforcement agents from ATF, MPD and the Prince George’s County Police Department executed search warrants on three locations and five vehicles linked to a seven-month investigation into alleged drug trafficking from the Next Level Cuts barbershop and surrounding property in the 2400 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE. The searches led to the seizure of firearms, ammunition, and quantities of narcotics.

The investigation established that drug traffickers would use the barbershop and adjoining property as a stash location for the trafficking of narcotics. A search at that location led to the seizure of more than $7,000 in cash, more than 800 grams of PCP, more than 300 grams of heroin, boxes of Suboxone strips, three firearms, and ammunition.

As a result of the search warrants, Anthony Fields, 44, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

with drug trafficking offenses. As a result of a subsequent search warrant executed in Prince George’s County, James Venable, 46, of Fort Washington, Md., was arrested by Prince George’s County officers on narcotics and firearms charges.

The charges in criminal complaints are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In announcing the arrests and seizures, Acting United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning, United States Attorney Liu, Special Agent in Charge Chittum, Special Agent Board, Chief Newsham, and Chief Stawinski commended the work of those who are investigating the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who are handling the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Macchiaroli, and from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Sykes.